Integration
by FantasticalWhisper
Summary: How would you feel if you woke up and discovered four other minds entangled with your own? One Shot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII. But sometimes I wish I was in Vincent's head too.**

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I stirred restlessly though a mire of fog, trying to shake off the unusual stupor my mind was weighed down by. Something didn't feel right. _I_ didn't feel right.

Where was I? It was unlike me to not have an acute understanding of my location. I could discern that my body was lying atop a slick cold metal, but that was all.

Suddenly something shifted. Somewhere within the recesses of my mind I felt a strange rustling. There was an alien matter enfolded deep within myself.

What was this, this foreign _thing_ that had somehow had invaded my head? I was reeling from the shock, like a physical blow. Then I became suspicious of this unknown sensation. The more I searched, determined to find the cause and eject whatever it was, the more foreign entities I found. There were three more tangled in the darkness, so entrenched I couldn't find where one ended and another began. It felt so wrong, like my very being was violated by these strange minds. I could not even distinguish where the borders of my own self ended. They were a part of me.

I tried to wrench my consciousness away, sickened by the touch of the strange _otherness _lodged within me. Instead, I pushed my awareness toward the physical, tangible world.

My limbs felt terribly weak. I tried to sit up, but something immediately impeded the movement. I sensed a leathery material that ran tightly across my neck and thighs and joined to the metal beneath me. My hands and feet were locked in iron manacles that bit if I stirred.

I finally got my eyelids to open. My vision seemed different and it took a moment to adjust to the odd glowing green haze than emanated from a large tank near the wall. I didn't spend time observing my surroundings more than acknowledging I was indoors, probably a dark basement, and strapped to a table. A growl of disgust rumbled in my throat. How could it have been that I was so incontestably captured?

I turned my head to my right and my arm came into view. Only I found it wasn't my arm. The proportions… weren't right. It was like my own limb and another's had been meshed together. It was horrific.

Raising my head off the table, I glanced down at the rest of myself. It was like recognizing some of me and discovering some of another being entirely, presumably one of the other essences I had been confined with inside this single body. My hand, whose fingers were long pointed talons, gripped into a fist and I tried to wrench my arm free of the fetters. But I was too weak, much weaker than I should be.

I felt truly afraid at that moment, which unnerved me still further since I was not familiar with that emotion. I was the one who instilled fear upon others, who at the sight of me knew I had brought their death. I could kill a man with my hands if I so chose. That was my job on this planet and I was good at it.

Suddenly, one of the four strange essences became more potent as they too rose into consciousness. I could feel the other's confusion, wondering dimly what was going on. Then it became increasingly more frantic. Its emotions jumbled into my own until I could no longer separate the two.

_Stop it!_ I demanded, feeling the panic wash over me and soak into my core. I suppressed a shudder at the contact with the alien essence.

Just then, a figure appeared on my peripherals. My vision snapped reflexively toward the newcomer, taking in the faded white lab coat and syringe in his hand as he drew nearer. The glasses perched on his face reflected the lighting, shining like the eyes of a feral beast.

My blood boiled at the sight, not directly caused by the needle but by the man himself. This man I absolutely hated, though in my confused state I wasn't sure why. I only knew it was so. As he stepped closer I let loose a low growl, feeling sharp fangs brush my lower lip.

"I see you've finally awoken, Vincent," the man said, stopping next to the table. "Very good."

I struggled against the bonds, wanting to reach out and rip him into pieces. In my head I could feel the additional minds waking up as well, adding to the craving for this man's annihilation. It was so unnatural, to feel others' desires threading with my own to form a single purpose. But that feeling did not hold my interest for long.

If only I could reach…

"It's pointless to struggle," the man said in a lazy tone.

That only made me angrier. I thrashed against my shackles, uncaring as the metal dug into my flesh. The pain only incensed by rage.

He watched my efforts for a while in apparent amusement and then brought the syringe to my arm. I hissed as the needle pierced my skin, sending a cold liquid rushing through my veins. My struggling slowed and finally ceased as I lost control over my muscles. Soon I was so paralyzed the restraints were no longer of use.

"The integration process is almost complete. Soon we shall begin the true research." The man eventually left, caught up in his evil schemes and cackling with pleasure.

I had enough of this nightmare. I wanted my own body back, not this twisted form that was only partially mine. The other minds were squabbling now that there was no motive to unite them. Only one of the four seemed truly intelligent. I focused on that one, curious.

_What's happening?_

_Our minds were conjoined, somehow. _

For a brief moment we shared a similar revulsion at the fact. The other minds were restless and I tried ignoring them.

Then, as if a dam had burst, memories began to flash through my head and I now understood how I had come to be here. Overwhelming grief washed out all other emotions. My heart felt crushed in a vice of steel harder than the chains that bound me, making my eyes tear from the pain. A choking sob tore through my throat.

_Lucrecia… I was too late. How could I have let this happen?_

_Stop. That hurts!_

_All… my fault…_

_Stop! Sorrow isn't going to get us out of here. We need to work together if we are going to survive._

…_Like partners?_

_Precisely._

I harbored no delusion of trust in this strange being whose mind had melded with my own, but I had little choice. I wanted to be free. The other appeared willing, albeit grudgingly, to form an alliance and that was all that mattered for the present.

_Very well. And since we're stuck with each other… My name is Vincent Valentine. Yours?_

No one had ever asked for my name before. I took a moment to deliberate and then told the alien presence, _My name is Chaos._

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**Author's Note: People hardly write from Chaos' perspective and that's why I'm hoping you assumed you were reading Vincent's monologue. I was rather intrigued by this idea and had to write about it. Will probably be spruced up later. Hope you liked!**


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